Update: Samsung makes a statement refuting these claims. Here's a quote from the CNET article:

However, a Samsung spokesman told CNET that the Korea Times post was 100 percent false.

"Samsung Display has never tried to cut the supply for LCD panels to Apple," the spokesman said.
He added that Samsung is asking the Korea Times to revise its story.

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Hmmm... it's entirely possible that this second "official" statement from Samsung is simply damage control. Perhaps Sammy still plans to cancel their contracts with Apple eventually, but this info shouldn't have slipped out yet. What do you guys think?

It looks like the magic in the marriage between Samsung and Apple has faded and the final divorce is coming. In a a somewhat ironic twist, industry intel suggests that the Display arm of Samsung intends to call it quits with Apple before Apple does. Supposedly, sometime in 2013, Samsung Display intends to terminate their contract to build displays for Apple devices.

What is even more ironic is that the reason for this move has little to do with the ongoing legal feud between the two companies. Supposedly, the primary reason Samsung wants out of the deal is because they are tired of the massive price discounts that Apple always demands. Apparently, the price per pixel for suppliers fell more than twenty times from the iPad 2 to the new iPad. Here's a quote from the anonymous Samsung Display exec,

We are unable to supply our flat-screens to Apple with huge price discounts. Samsung has already cut our portion of shipments to Apple and next year we will stop shipping displays.

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In the mean-time, this year Samsung was still the largest screen supplier for Apple. During the first six month of this year Samsung shipped 15 million panels to Cupertino. During the second half of this year Apple saw a huge decrease from Samsung. The source of this info indicated that "Samsung shipped less than 3 million to Apple during the third quarter of this year and we expect the quarterly shipment in the fourth quarter to fall to some 1.5 million." This means this was a move they were already planning to begin with.

Finally, although Samsung does get a large revenue stream from Apple, reports indicate they have already begun branching out to replace/offset that stream from other device manufacturers, like Amazon.

Demanding "huge price discounts" from their suppliers is obviously one reason Apple is so profitable.

Only a huge supplier (like Samsung) can afford to turn down business to supply a huge customer (like Apple). Well done, Samsung. Let the other suppliers fight over who gets to lose money supplying millions of cheap displays to Apple.

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